Corsages are often made by impaling the severed end of a fresh flower with a wire holder. To keep the flower fresh for an extended period, it is known to add a moisture reservoir to the holder. My U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,150,462, 4,281,474, 4,481,732 (all hereby incorporated by reference) describe holders with such moisture reservoirs; a moisture absorbent material surrounds a textile-covered stem and is covered by an outer coating of water-repellent adhesive tape.
The flower holder described in my U.S. Pat. No. 4,481,732 has been in widespread use in the United States for roughly ten years. It has a moisture reservoir made from a plug of fibers, in which the fibers extend predominantly parallel to the covered wire. Early in the manufacture and use of this holder, it was discovered that the fiber plug tended to slip relative to the wire extending through it. The lengthwise orientation of the fibers that aided insertion of the severed end of the flower also allowed the wire to slip through the fiber plug. Tape surrounding the plug and wire resisted the movement, but not sufficiently to keep the plug firmly in contact with the severed end of the flower. The solution implemented was to glue the wire to the fiber plug, by dipping the wire in glue before inserting it into the base of the fiber plug.
But this glued construction suffers from several problems. The glue is drawn into the pores of the fiber plug, substantially lowering the plug's water holding capacity; most of the glue resides at the lower end of the plug, but some finds its way to the exposed end of the fiber plug, and interferes there with moisture transfer between the plug and the impaled end of the flower. Glue also remains on the textile material covering the wire impaled by the flower, making the wire less effective in transferring moisture to the flower. Typically, a flocked wire is used, and the glue fills the tiny spaces between the flocking, impairing its ability to transfer water and to hold the impaled flower.